Teach For America × Chicago-Northwest Indiana is seeking a Managing Director, Individual Giving (MD,IG). The Managing Director of Individual Giving (MD,IG) will lead our individual giving campaign as a senior member of the Chicago-Northwest Indiana External Affairs Team. They will set the individual giving long range vision and annual strategy, operational plans, and execute them. The ideal candidate has a passion for Teach For America’s mission and has a developed, nuanced understanding of how to communicate our mission to funders, aligning funding requests to donor motivations, our organizational theory of change, and our strategic direction. The MD, Individual Giving is a member of the External Affairs Team, which is responsible for fundraising and building and strengthening partnerships with the business, civic, philanthropic, and government leadership communities. The MD, Individual Giving reports directly to the VP, External Affairs and works closely with the region’s Executive Director (ED). They will also manage the Director, Individual Giving.
Create and manage the strategic and operational plan for Teach For America Chicago-Northwest Indiana’s individual giving program (35%)
- Be the visionary and strategist for the individual giving portfolio; develop a long range regional individual giving vision and develop annual strategic and operational plans aligned to this vision
- Set ambitious and feasible revenue and donor experience / stewardship goals to achieve annual and long range regional goals
- Innovate, develop and implement strategies and tactical plans to achieve goals for different donor segments
- Consistently and effectively analyze progress to annual and long range goals; autonomously define aligned problems and opportunities to solve for, analyze and develop rigorous strategies, and manage execution to ensure goals are met
- Regularly assess individual giving team-wide progress to goals, identify what is driving and impeding progress, develop solutions to address gaps and adjust course as necessary
- Collaboratively set vision and direction for Regional Advisory Board engagement and production
Manage cultivation, stewardship, and solicitation for portfolio of donors in major gifts campaign (30% of time)
- Set direction for and manage execution of the Executive Director in building effective and strategic partnerships with individual giving donors and prospects
- Directly build strategic and effective partnerships with individual giving donors
- Solicit individual giving donors for gifts
- Effectively steward individual giving donors; produce, curate, and leverage consistent, high quality donor communications that align to funder motivations; create or curate compelling opportunities for current and prospective donors to engage with our program
Effectively manage the Director, Individual Giving (DIG) and serve as a high-impact External Affairs member and culture leader (20% of time)
- Be an effective manager of the DIG; develop them into a high-impact contributor
- Collaboratively set direction for their work, manage their execution, influence and motivate them to make profound contributions to the individual giving portfolio
- Foster their values-orientation and leadership as a member of the External Affairs Team, and regional team
- As a senior leader on the External Affairs Team and manager, serve as a model of the culture we aspire to
- Partner with the VP, External Affairs to strengthen the External Affairs Team’s strategy and impact
Participate in all Team Responsibilities (5% of time)
- Prepare for and lead check ins with your manager around progress towards goals and your ongoing development
- Prepare for and participate in XA team meetings and retreats
- Collaborate with and support XA colleagues’ work and development
Collective Responsibility Regional Projects (10% of time)
- Make a direct impact on the organizational mission of enlisting, developing and mobilizing leaders to strengthen the movement for educational equity by participating in matriculation (up to six windows across the year), regional recruitment activity, member facing events (including Leadership Summits and Summer Training), our alumni giving campaign, alumni survey and other initiatives that impact our members and partners. All staff are expected to regularly engage in professional development programming, particularly development focused on diversity and inclusiveness. All-staff meetings, retreats, and step backs are also required.
Prior Experience
- 7+ years of fundraising experience with proven record of achieving ambitious results
- Experience building an organization’s individual giving program
- Experience in an entrepreneurial environment, developing new ways of approaching problems in a logical and disciplined manner
Skills
- Passionate about our mission, believes deeply in the importance of inspiring/investing others in our mission/work, and has high expectations for how Teach For America is viewed by external constituents
- Uncommon level of personal responsibility with exceptional goal orientation and a proven track record of success
- Able to translate quantitative and qualitative data into actionable solutions; strong strategic and critical thinker
- Highly organized, effectively manages self and others
- Able to build strong relationships with others in challenging situations
- Empathetic; keen understanding of the beliefs, contexts, and motivations of others; able to tailor approach toward the perspective of others;
- Strong storyteller; can speak compellingly about our organization, mission, and goals and has a mature presence
Work Demands
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, partner- and mission-service oriented environment
- Ability to work some evenings for funder events
Salary for this position is competitive and depends on prior experience. In addition, a comprehensive benefits package is included.
Teach For America encourages individuals of all ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds to apply for this position. We are committed to maximizing the diversity of our organization, as we want to engage all those who can contribute to this effort. Learn more about our diversity on staff: www.teachforamerica.org/about-us/careers/life-at-tfa/workforce-diversity....
Teach For America is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
This job description reflects Teach For America's assignment of essential functions and qualifications of the role. Nothing in this herein restricts management's right to assign, reassign or eliminate duties and responsibilities to this role at any time.